Star Wars: Never One Without the Other (TROS Alt Ending Fanfic)
by Hipp0Breath
Summary: (SPOILERS FOR TROS) After ending the reign of the Sith, Rey finds that there is still one more task that she must endeavor to complete - even if it means facing the emperor once more.
1. Loss and Found

**A/N: **(SPOILERS COMING NOW; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED) To all you fellow "Reylo" shippers out there, that scene was really a punch in the gut. I saw it coming from a mile away, both the resurrection of Rey and the death of Ben Solo, but it still hurts. I was scrolling through Twitter when I came upon a canon method to "correct" some things: The World Between Worlds. I knew I had to do something with this information (Thank you, by the way, to the person on Twitter for mentioning this). I will try to do this alternate ending fanfiction justice, so here we go.

The Sith are no more. The galaxy is finally at peace, she thought to herself. The setting sun enveloped the sandy planet. She sat down suddenly, breathing in a long and exhausted breath. Something still feels, incomplete, she said to herself. This pain, why, what is happening. She felt the beads of sweat dripping as she planted her staff into the ground. She looked to the sand which darkened as beads of sweat hit the ground. The lone Jedi felt her eyes begin to burn. Her vision blurred as the sweat became tears. Like the erupting lava pits of Mustafar, she felt a surge of pain rise from within her and wash over her. Quiet sobs became violent as she hurriedly wiped at the tears, with breaths short and quick.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." She wiped away her tears before lifting her gaze from the dampened sand to see a bluish figure standing before her. The figure's features were novel. Yet, there was a resemblance that she couldn't quite put her finger on. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"No, of course," Rey said as her sobbing subsided. She squinted to get a better view of the figure. He had wavy hair and a strong stature. "Who are you, exactly?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Search your feelings, Rey." Rey closed her eyes diving into the depths of the force.

"You're Anakin Skywalker," she said in a whisper. An expression of shock appeared on her face.

"I am here to help you." He continued staring into the sun.

"With what? The Sith are defeated." Anakin gave her a slight frown to which she reciprocated.

"I know you miss him." Anakin returned his gaze to the sun.

"I don't know what you're talking about." A look of indignation appeared on her face.

"Hiding from your feelings isn't going to solve anything." He looked at her. "Trust me. Trust in the force, but also face what is yet to be resolved." The two sat in silence for a moment.

"What would you have me do then?" Anakin stood up putting his fingers to his chin.

"Travel to the planet of Lothal and visit the Jedi Temple there. There, and only there, will you find what you seek." Rey's eyes grew wider before her expression transformed into a look of confusion.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying there's a chance to rewrite what has been done." Anakin looked at her, his expression one of hope.

"A chance to bring him back." Rey massaged her temples as if easing her absorption of the information.

"How do you know this?"

"My old apprentice spoke of this place upon her passing on into the force. She was brought back the same way after- He was silent for a minute, looking to the sand beside them. Rey dove into his memories recalling the silhouette of a Togruta wielding duel lightsabers against a taller armored silhouette that looked more machine than man. "That does not matter now." She snapped out of her vision and opened her eyes to see his ghostly bluish hand on her shoulder. She turned to see his reassuring smile.

"Thank you." She began to step away when she stopped suddenly.

"Why help me?" She turned to him, her expression drawn from confusion.

"Because I was once like you, but I could not save the one whom I loved." Rey's mind went ablaze with the fiery pits of Mustafar as she saw the image of a young woman dropping to the ground.

"I'm- I'm sorry," she said staring at the sand.

"You still have a chance, now go," he said gesturing his hand towards the sand behind her. Rey nodded at Anakin as she turned to leave. Anakin stared off into the setting sun, bringing two fingers to his chin once more, stroking it in contemplation.

**A/N: **And there's chapter 1! I know, a slower beginning, but everything needs to start somewhere. Share your thoughts and/or suggestions for what you want to see in the review section below! I'm still deciding whether I should continue this (depending on timing and ideas for continuation). Until next time!


	2. Pilgrimage

**A/N: **Thankful for the great reception of the first chapter! This story won't drag on too long. Without further ado, I present: Chapter 2: Pilgrimage

Rey felt her heart quicken in her chest as she saw the fauna-based planet in view. She took a breath as she propelled herself in her former master's X-Wing towards the planet's surface.

The craft touched down in a field of beige grass. The former scavenger saw spherical rocks nearby and viewed a shimmering city on the horizon. Now to find this temple, she said to herself.

She sat down feeling the grass tickle her calves as she descended. Closing her eyes, she focused in on the force. "That way," she said aloud as she opened her eyes seeing her finger pointing in a specific direction. She made her way in the direction she had denoted with BB-8 following closely behind her.

She felt her heart drop to the floor as her eyes widened. "A pile of rubble?" She said in a whisper. She stepped closer as she observed the remnants of a Jedi Temple. This- this has to be a trick, right? she said internally.

"Would I ever trick you?"

She flicked around.

"Reach out with the force. The first step will require the gate to be reconstructed," Anakin said as he reached out his hands to remove some rubble. Rey followed his example extending her hands and closing her eyes. She felt something materializing in front of her. It was something huge, something unnatural.

"You can open them now."

Rey opened her eyes as she found herself staring at a wall with three figures, each holding a hand up. One looked of order, one of disorder, and one of wisdom.

"You'll need this too." Anakin extended his hand once more as a key floated towards Rey. She grabbed it and observed the fragment for a moment.

"Are you sure he's behind this wall?" Anakin brought his fingers to his chin.

"Well, I haven't been there myself, so let's find out," he said shrugging.

Rey gave him a weird look as Anakin gestured towards the gate.

Rey reached out with the force, motioning her hand across the wall as if she was scanning it. She walked forwards as she brought the fragment to the figure of order's hand. She reached out again with the force checking to see if this was really what she had sought. Inserting the fragment, Rey closed her eyes and allowed her instinct to guide her as a low rumble came from the wall. Rumbling became clattering before the wall lit up as she stumbled back. Come on now, she said aloud.

The wall suddenly burst open revealing a pitch-black background. Rey, mouth slightly agape, stood before the massive gate.

"Well, if we're done staring at the nothingness, I suggest we head inside," Anakin said breaking the silence.

"We?" Rey gave him a very confused look.

"Well, yes we." Anakin said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I haven't seen it either," Anakin said giving her an awkward smile.

Rey gave him a questioning look, but broke it as she faced the portal and stepped inside.

The two Skywalkers proceeded down the dark corridor of the portal.

"This realm is, unnatural," Rey said in a bit of awe.

"No, I've seen weirder."

Rey angled her brows down as she looked to him.

"Okay, enough jokes for at least a little bit," he said chuckling slightly.

She scanned her surroundings carefully. She noticed the white lines that marked their path and the utter darkness between them otherwise. "Finn, Poe, Chewie." Voices came from known and unknown. She began glancing into the portals. Walkers in the snow, not it. She moved to the next portal. The low hum of lightsabers followed by a sudden clash and a mechanical sounding scream sounded. Not it she said to herself. This continued until she finally stumbled upon the silhouette of a girl raising her arm behind her as she stood before a giant mechanical arm holding a hooded figure before her. Her eyes widened immensely as the vivid memories stormed her mind in a flurry of thoughts.

"This is it! This is the place!" Anakin stood beside her staring into the portal as well.

"Rey." He put his ghostly hand on her shoulder. "You understand that with these next steps, you will have to face him again. Rey's expression tightened as she realized who he meant by him.

"Yes." she closed her eyes. "I am willing to take that risk," she said as she opened her eyes.

"We'll be with you," she heard as dozens of voices spoke in unison through Anakin.

"Go," Anakin said as he extended his hands and the portal seemed to tear open with a slight whirring sound. "Things will be different this time, I promise," he said as he gave her a wink.

Rey nodded as she stepped towards the portal. Taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes, she put one foot through allowing the other to follow as well. She felt the familiar unsettling cool clammy surroundings of Exegol. As she opened her eyes, she found pale ones staring back at her.

**A/N:** And there's the second installment! Hope you're enjoying it! Please continue to give me feedback of how you're finding the story!


	3. The Three Skywalkers

**A/N: **I plan for two more chapters (including this one) to finish off this story. It's rather short, but I did this so that I won't drag out anything or insert filler (get right to the juicy parts). Anyways, I present Chapter 3: The Three Skywalkers.

The chamber roared with fanatical cheers.

"At long last, the prophecy shall be fulfilled!" Palpatine shouted to his dark followers. "She shall strike me down, and unlimited power shall be mine!"

Rey's fingers searched for her lightsaber as she kept her determined eyes trained on Palpatine. Noticing it was still there, she brought the saber up and ignited it with a low hum. Slowly, she raised the blade bringing it behind her and feeling it disappear. Glad that still works, she thought to herself. She then ignited Leia's lightsaber and brandished it at the emperor. In a moment's notice, she sensed and heard footsteps rapidly approaching her. As she swiveled her view beside her, she noticed Ben Solo standing with her. She couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face. It worked, she said to herself.

Her moment of small victory began to fade rapidly as she lost a hold of her lightsaber and heard the clatter of Ben's as well.

"A force dyad, a rare and powerful occurrence. This shall serve me well." Rey felt her life force being drained as the emperor cackled manically looking to the sky above.

Come on Anakin, where are you? she said in her head. Please, help us.

In an instant, everything went black as she felt her body hit the rigid floor.

"Wake up," she told herself. Forcing herself to come to, the blurry and vivid flashes of blue light and force lightning greeted her awakening. She squinted harder to see Ben swing wildly at the emperor fighting back force lightning which illuminated the darkened room. Ben was forced back as he assumed a defensive stance staring defiantly at the emperor.

"Skywalker! Show yourself!" Palpatine said shouting into the darkness.

"Right here emperor." He said as the room echoed with his voice.

Palpatine grabbed for his temples as he stumbled back slightly towards his throne.

Rey looked up and saw a black gloved hand at her side.

"Get up, my grandfather is buying us time!" Rey took Ben's hand and used him to steady herself before igniting her own lightsaber and facing the emperor.

"So quick to run Skywalker?" the emperor said yelling into the chamber. "You will always be the cowardly boy from Tatooine!"

"Enough," Ben said as the emperor returned his attention to the two Jedi before him.

"You," the emperor seethed. "My power is- unstoppable!" The emperor said screaming as he lashed out a large barrage of force lightning striking the blue blades of the two Jedi struggling to keep their footing against the immense Sith power.

"Rey, now!" Ben said shouting into the force lightning as he whipped his saber and lashed at the emperor's lightning with Rey following his action. Their combined force sent the emperor flying with a low cry into his throne. The two Jedi returned to their defensive stances viewing the emperor as he breathed seemingly weakly on his throne.

"Okay, Jedi." The emperor procured a silver hilt gilded with gold as a crimson blade appeared in front of him as he rose.

The emperor spiral dove at Ben who parried his attack skillfully with Rey trying to land an attack from the emperor's rear flank. The emperor cackled as he procured a second hilt and ignited it allowing the second crimson blade to counter the attacking Jedi's strike. A flurry of crimson and blue danced in the room as the two Jedi struck at the remnant of the Sith. Palpatine suddenly leapt from the fray and dove for Rey from an unseen angle. Rey could feel the heated crimson getting closer. "No!" Ben said rushing towards her. As she closed her eyes to brace for the strike, she felt a rush of wind beside her followed by a loud thud behind her.

"Ben!" she said with much hurt in her voice. I came all this way for nothing, she said to herself looking at the motionless body.

"No, you didn't," Anakin said in her mind. Her flurry of thoughts was cleared as she saw a flesh-toned Anakin Skywalker standing beside her.

He flicked his fingers as his former lightsaber flew from Ben's body to him. The blue blade ignited as he brought it to attack position.

"Stay away from my grandson," Anakin seethed as he lunged at the emperor initiating a flurry of blue and crimson.

Rey's eyes darted between the duel and the motionless body. She closed her eyes for a split second reaching her hand out at Ben's body. She opened her eyes at the relief that he was still alive, but she noticed that blood had began to pool under him. "Hold on Ben," she said in a whisper. Igniting her lightsaber, she joined Anakin in the fray as she clashed blades with the evil emperor once more. The emperor created space between them as he jumped back towards his throne.

"Die Jedi!" he said shouting as he unleashed yet another barrage of lightning against the two Jedi.

Rey felt her footing give as she slid back while holding her blade in front of her.

"Rey, together, now!" Anakin said in her mind as she noticed him pushing forward towards the emperor. She followed his instructions as she too began moving towards the emperor.

"Push, push, push," dozens of voices said in her head as her footing grew stronger and she pushed her blade against the dark energy.

She soon heard a cry as bits of the emperor began to splatter everywhere and his body disintegrated. The sky erupted with light as she stood breathing heavily before collapsing to her knees. She felt strong winds whipping past her as the storm of debris whipped past her destroying the entire chamber.

"We- we did it." She said in a whisper looking beside her. To her surprise, Anakin Skywalker was gone.

"We did it," Anakin's voice said in her head.

"Ben!" she said aloud as the thought shot into her mind. She practically leapt at him as she cradled his body in her arms. Seeing the bleeding wound at his upper torso, she moved her hand there and closed her eyes. Drawing immense amounts of energy from the force, she focused on the wound as his body rested on her lap. "Ben, please," she said in a whisper. As she opened her eyes, his motionless body remained.

"No," she said stammering as tears began to blur her vision as her view fell upon her blood-soaked robes from his wound.

"Why are you crying?"

She lifted her head as a small smile started to creep onto her face. Her blurred vision still permitted her to see a blurry black hand gently wiping her tears.

"Sorry, I got some blood on your-

Not caring about anything else in the galaxy at that moment, she pressed her lips on his as she felt his hand on the back of her head. As she slowly pulled away, her eyes laid upon a smiling Ben Solo beneath her. The two began to chuckle slightly as they enjoyed each other's embrace.

**A/N:** Special thanks to Star Wars Theory for the idea of having a longer fight between the emperor and having Rey and Ben engage in a fight with him. I really could see a full-on lightsaber duel between the emperor and the dyad, and the one with Anakin and Rey versus the emperor was also a hope I had. Also, apologies for pulling Anakin back in with some immense power that he could materialize in the physical world. I just thought that this fight should begin and end with Anakin having a hand in bringing down the emperor. After all, he is the chosen one and the story would then end up with three Skywalkers rising. Well, that was the big action chapter. Next chapter is closing and the future?


	4. A New Galaxy

**A/N:** Well, we've come full circle. Presenting: Chapter 4: A New Galaxy.

**Days later…**

The sleek resistance shuttle touched down on Tatooine.

"So, this is where my grandfather lived when he was young?" Ben said stepping onto the sand.

"Yeah, reminds me of Jakku," Rey said walking beside him. The small homestead stood untouched as the two looked to the two suns setting in the distance. Rey knelt down and took out a small brown cloth and laid out Luke's and Leia's lightsabers onto the cloth. Rey stood, Ben standing adjacent to her.

"Together," Ben said smiling at the shorter Jedi. Rey returned his smile as her hand slipped into his and they closed their eyes in unison. Each raising their other hand, they channeled the force, sinking the two lightsabers into the sand. Opening their eyes again they looked at each other for a moment, enjoying the company of the other. Rey's eye caught a hint of blue behind Ben.

"Luke," she said whispering. Ben's gaze followed Rey's.

"Mom," he said in awe. The two apparitions smiled at the duo and smiled at one another before another bluish apparition appeared beside them. "Grandfather?" Ben's jaw was practically in the sand by now.

Anakin Skywalker gave a small salute to the couple before smiling at his children beside him. Rey and Ben were at a loss for words, managing to simply wave at the three apparitions as they slowly faded away. The two then turned back towards the homestead. Rey found a small piece of debris using it to slide down the sand slope while Ben opted for a sideways descent.

"What are we doing here?" Ben said observing the interiors of the homestead.

"With the Sith gone, I thought we might want to put the past behind us," Rey said beginning to unpack a rucksack.

"And take some time off?" Ben was utterly confused.

"You could say that." Rey faced Ben as she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck as they embraced one another.

"Are you sure about this?" Ben whispered chuckling awkwardly, breaking the kiss to look into her eyes.

"Someone did say before to forget the past," Rey said teasingly.

"Too soon," Ben said growing redder. Rey began giggling joining Ben's continued awkward chuckle.

The two made their way back out of the homestead to face the setting sun once more.

An elderly woman passed by their homestead as she stopped to see the couple. "This place has been abandoned for so long," she said eying the couple. Rey and Ben turned to her.

"Who are you?"

"Ben Solo."

"Rey Skywalker."

**A/N: ** Thank you for reading, and happy holidays!


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